Boat propulsion unit

ABSTRACT

A boat propulsion unit adapted to be suspended on the outside of a boat transom and drivably connected to an engine on the inside of the transom. This unit comprising a propeller drive shaft housing, a suspension arrangement adapted to be fixedly secured to the transom, a pivot which pivotally connects the drive shaft housing to the suspension arrangement to allow pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement about a pivot axis in a vertical plane and pivot axis in a horizontal plane, a steering device which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about the first-mentioned axis, and a trim and tilt device which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about the second-mentioned axis. The pivot comprises a first lower and a second upper universal joint (22, 24 resp.), of which the upper universal joint carries a powered actuator member (35) inclined to the horizontal and comprising a pair of components (34, 37) which are telescopically displaceable relative to each other and of which one has a forked bracket (39) at an outer end, which bracket (39) grips an upper region (38) of the drive shaft housing (3) and is pivotally connected thereto for pivotal displacement about a horizontal pivot axis. The other component (34) of the actuator member (35) has an inner end at a distance from the upper universal joint, and at, or in the vicinity of, which end the other component has structure (42) for connecting the component to a steering mechanism, by which the actuator member is displaceable about a pivot axis (a) lying in a vertical plane, thereby to pivot the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement.

The present invention relates to a boat propulsion unit intended to be suspended on the outside of a boat transom and driveably connected to an engine on the inside of the transom, said unit comprising a propeller drive shaft housing, a suspension arrangement intended to be fixedly secured to the transom, pivot means which pivotally connect the drive shaft housing to the suspension arrangement to allow pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement about a pivot axis in a vertical plane and a pivot axis in horizontal plane, steering means which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about said first-mentioned axis, and trim and tilt means which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about said second-mentioned axis.

Conventional boat propulsion units of the above-mentioned type, for example so-called Aquamatic® drive units, incorporate a carrier screwed to the boat transom. The propeller drive shaft housing is suspended from the carrier by means of a forked bracket which is pivotable about a horizontal transverse axis accommodated in the carrier. A substantially vertical steering axis or spindle is connected to the drive shaft housing and is journalled in the forked bracket. A steering arm cooperates with said spindle. The steering mechanism of the boat, for example a push-pull cable or a servo unit, acts on the steering arm in order to cause its displacement and thereby that of the propeller drive shaft housing. Trimming and tilting of the drive shaft housing is achieved by pivoting the forked bracket upwardly. This is normally carried out with the help of a pair of hydraulic cylinder arrangements, with one hydraulic cylinder acting on each leg of the forked bracket.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a boat propulsion unit which can be produced at a considerably lower cost than propulsion units of the above-described known type and which, in addition, is simpler to install on a boat.

This is achieved in accordance with the present invention by means of the pivot means comprising a first lower and a second upper universal joint, of which the upper universal joint carries a powered actuator member comprising a pair of components which are telescopically displaceable relative to each other and of which one of said components presents a forked bracket at an outer end, which bracket grips an upper region of the drive shaft housing and is pivotally connected thereto for pivotal displacement about a horizontal pivot axis.

Advantages attained by the invention will be apparent from the following description and with reference to the embodiment shown in the attached drawings, of which FIG. 1 shows a schematic partial sectional view of a boat propulsion unit according to the invention and FIG. 2 is an enlargement of the region II of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 generally denotes a boat propulsion unit of the so-called INU-type, for example an Aquamatic®-drive unit, which consists of two main components, namely a suspension arrangement 2 and a propeller drive shaft housing 3.

The suspension arrangement 2 consists of two main parts, i.e. a frame member 5 affixed to a boat transom 4 and an inner carrier 6 supported by the frame member 5. The frame member 5 is an extruded aluminium profile, which presents a hollow cavity 7 that can be used for various purposes. For example, the cavity can be used to conduct exhaust gases and cooling water from an engine 8 connected to the propulsion unit 1, whereby the cavity presents an inlet (not shown) and an outlet 9 for the cooling water and the exhaust gases. Alternatively, the frame member 5 can be used as a cooler for various fluids, for example engine oil, whereby the lubrication system of the engine communicates via not shown inlets and outlets with the cavity 7 in the frame member 5.

The aluminium profile which forms the frame member 5 is provided with a U-shaped slot 10 in which a seal 11 is inserted. The frame member 5 is affixed to the outside of the boat transom 4 so that the seal 11 surrounds and seals against the edge of an opening 12 in the transom 4. To achieve this, the profile 5 is provided with a T-shaped slot 13 within which a plurality of screws 14 having heads adapted to the shape of the slot 13 project. Each screw 14 extends through an opening in a U-shaped yoke 15 and clamps one leg 15a of the yoke against the edge of the opening 13 by means of a nut 16. The other leg 15b of the yoke projects into a shallow slot 16 in a covering ring 17, this ring forming the one delimitation of a U-shaped channel 18 in which a ring 19 of flexible material is accommodated. The ring 19 presents a slot 19a into which an edge region of the inner carrier 6 projects, so that a damped suspension of the inner carrier 6 is achieved in the frame member 5.

The described arrangement provides for very simple mounting of the suspension arrangement 2 of the drive shaft housing 3. The profile 5 is presented to the outside of the transom with the yokes 15 loosely carried on the screws 14 and turned through 90° from the position shown in the drawings.

After inserting the inner carrier 6 with the damping ring 19 in the channel 18 and applying the covering ring 17, the yokes 15 are rotated to the position showed in the drawings, whereafter the nuts 16 are tightened. The inner carrier 6 is now attached and resiliently supported within the opening 13 in the transom. The drive assembly consisting of the cooperating engine and propulsion unit hereby has a common centre of gravity which is located a short distance from the plane of the damping ring 19. This implies that the need for further engine mountings is avoided.

The inner carrier 6 is shaped so that it forms a flywheel casing 20 for the connected engine 8. A cylinder 21 for a lower ball-type universal joint, generally denoted by 22, and a seat 23 for an upper ball-type universal joint, generally denoted by 24, is formed integrally in the shown embodiment with the inner carrier 6, though may also be in the form of separate components fixedly attached to the carrier. This also applies for the flywheel casing 20.

The lower ball-joint 22 has a ball 25 which is rigidly connected to the drive shaft housing 3 via a neck 26 and is accommodated in a spherical recess in a piston member 27. The piston member 27 is displaceable in the cylinder 21 against the action of a helical spring 28 accommodated in the cylinder. The ball 25 and the neck 26 present a through-passage 29 which communicates with a passage 30 in the drive shaft housing 3. The passage 30 is in communication with a cooling water inlet 31 in the underwater casing 32 of the drive shaft housing.

The upper ball-joint 24 has a ball 33 which is fixedly attached to a hydraulic cylinder 34 of a hydraulic piston-cylinder arrangement, generally denoted by 35. The piston rod 37 of the piston-cylinder arrangement displaceably extends through a bore 38 in the ball 33. The piston rod 37 extends forwardly and rearwardly from the ball joint 24 and towards an upper region 38 of the drive shaft housing 3 and, at its remote end, carries a forked bracket 39 which is clamped to the drive shaft housing region 38. The legs 40 (only one of which is shown) of the forked bracket 39 are pivotally connected via pivot pins 41 to the drive shaft housing region 38 to thereby permit pivotal displacement about the pivot pins 41. The cylinder 34 presents a pair of attachment rings 42 to which a not-shown steering mechanism, for example a push-pull cable or a servo unit, of a type known per se is intended to be connected in order to convert displacement of the steering wheel into sideways pivotal displacement of the piston-cylinder arrangement 35.

During pivotal displacement of the arrangement 35 about an axis "a" lying in a vertical plane by means of the steering mechanism, the drive shaft housing 3 is swung sideways, corresponding to displacement of a conventional drive shaft housing which has a steering spindle with steering arm journalled to a forked bracket. The hydraulic arrangement 35 thus serves as a tiller. When hydraulic oil is supplied to the cylinder space 43 of the cylinder 34 from a hydraulic pump 44, the drive shaft housing 3 is displaced about a horizontal axis "b" for trimming or tilting of the rig. The hydraulic arrangement Consequently also serves as a trim-cylinder and tilt-cylinder. The double trim-cylinders and the steering arm of the known propulsion unit described earlier are hereby replaced by a single piston-cylinder arrangement 35 which, in combination with the embodiment of a forked bracket 39 on an angled cylinder arrangement 35, provides high stability whilst ensuring that the drive shaft housing not only can be trimmed, but also can be tilted upwardly by a necessary amount, for example 45°.

As described above, by means of conducting cooling water through the lower ball 25, the need for a separate cooling water conduit between the drive shaft housing and the engine is eliminated. Ram pressure created by water flowing into the cooling water inlet 31 in the drive shaft housing 3 is dependent on the speed of the boat and will act in the cylinder space 45 of the cylinder 21. This pressure acts together with the spring arrangement 29 in a direction opposite to the propeller pressure force. The spring force can be balanced against the propeller pressure force so that the ram pressure can be used to provide automatic trimming of the drive shaft housing 3 as the speed increases. This is achieved by means of the piston member 27 which carries the ball 25 being displaced rearwardly when the pressure increases in the cylinder space 45. The cylinder 21 presents a throttled outlet 46 to which a cooling-water intake of the engine is intended to be connected. A conduit to a pressure log can also be connected to the outlet 46. The helical spring 28 illustrated in FIG. 1 can, if necessary, be replaced by a gas spring.

The above-described compact embodiment of the drive arrangement consisting of propulsion unit and engine allows a short intermediate shaft 50 to be used between the flywheel 51 of the engine and the drive joints 52 of the drive shaft housing 3. The shaft does not need to be supported by an intermediate bearing, but can be coupled to the flywheel 51 via an elastic joint 54 which includes an outer sleeve 55 which is non-rotatably fastened to the flywheel, an inner sleeve 56 non-rotatably attached to the shaft, an intermediate bush 57 vulcanised to the sleeves 55, 56 and a pair of bearing rings 58 made of low friction plastics, for example nylon. 

I claim:
 1. In a boat propulsion unit adapted to be suspended on the outside of a boat transom and drivably connected to an engine on the inside of the transom, said unit comprising a propeller drive shaft housing, a suspension arrangement adapted to be fixedly secured to the transom, pivot means which pivotally connects the drive shaft housing to the suspension arrangement to allow pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement about a pivot axis in a vertical plane and pivot axis in a horizontal plane, steering means which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about said first-mentioned axis, and trim and tilt means which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about said second-mentioned axis; the improvement wherein the pivot means comprises a first lower and a second upper universal joint (22, 24 resp.), of which the upper universal joint carries a powered actuator member (35) inclined to the horizontal and comprising a pair of components (34, 37) which are telescopically displaceable relative to each other and of which one of said components has a forked bracket (39) at an outer end, which bracket (39) grips an upper region (38) of the drive shaft housing (3) and is pivotally connected thereto,for pivotal displacement about a horizontal pivot axis, the other component (34) of the actuator member (35) having an inner end at a distance from the upper universal joint, and at, or in the vicinity of, which end the other component has means (42) for connecting the component to a steering mechanism, by means of which the actuator member is displaceable about a pivot axis (a) lying in a vertical plane, thereby to pivot the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement.
 2. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 1, wherein the powered actuator member is a hydraulic piston-cylinder arrangement (35), the piston rod (37) of which is connected to the forked bracket (39), and the cylinder (34) of which is carried by the upper universal joint (24).
 3. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 1, wherein the lower universal joint (22) cooperates with means (21, 27) to provide displacement of the joint against the action of a force in a direction which results in the pivoting of the drive shaft housing (3) about an axis lying in a horizontal plane (b) to thereby trim the drive shaft housing.
 4. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 3, wherein the universal joint (22) is connected to a piston member (27) which is displaceable within a cylinder (21).
 5. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 4, wherein the cylinder (21) contains a spring member (28) and/or means (26) for the supply of a pressure medium to a cylinder space (45) on a side of the cylinder remote from the drive shaft housing in order to generate a pressure force acting on the lower joint, which force acts against the propeller pressure force when the boat travels in a forward direction.
 6. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 1, wherein the lower universal joint (22) is a ball-joint which has a ball (25) connected to the drive shaft housing and has a passage (26) which is in communication with a cooling water inlet (31) in the drive shaft housing.
 7. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 6, wherein the ball (25) is accommodated in a recess in a piston member (27).
 8. Boat propulsion Unit according to claim 4, wherein the cylinder (21) is provided with a connection (46) to a pressure log.
 9. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 1, wherein the suspension arrangement (2) comprises a hollow frame member (5) which is intended to be fixed around an opening (12) in a boat transom (4), and a carrier (6) attached to the frame member, said carrier covering the opening and presenting said first and second universal joints (22, 24).
 10. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 9, wherein the cavity (7) in the frame member (5) is provided with an inlet and an outlet (9) to provide circulation of a fluid medium, for example exhaust gases, cooling water or oil from a connected motor, through the cavity.
 11. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 9, wherein the frame member (5) is provided with a T-shaped slot (13), and in that a plurality of screws (14) accommodated within the slot (13) affixes the frame member to the transom with help of yokes (15) and nuts (16).
 12. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 9, wherein the carrier (6) which is attached to the frame member (5) is shaped so that it forms a flywheel casing (20) for an engine.
 13. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 9, wherein the carrier (6) is suspended from the frame (5) via an insert in the form of a rubber damper (19).
 14. Boat propulsion unit according to claim 1 and having a connected internal combustion engine, wherein an output shaft (50) from the engine (8) is connected to the crankshaft of the engine via an elastic joint (54). 